Jim Green, chairman of the festival this year, said planners waited until the last forecast was issued Thursday morning to cancel this weekend’s festival.

“Rain does not scare us. If it was just a rain storm we’d press on, but this is tropical conditions,” Green said. “We can’t subject our vendors, patrons and property owners to that. It’s something we have to take into consideration.

“This decision has made me physically sick.”

Green said festival organizers spent Thursday morning calling the 100 vendors scheduled to attend the event and have posted cancellation notices on the festival’s website, Facebook page and on Twitter.

“This is the first time we’ve encountered weather like this,” Green said. “From my recollection, it’s the first time in the festival’s history. This has consumed our volunteers’ lives for the last 10 months.”

Destin Mayor Sam Seevers said the economic impact of the cancellation is great.

“This is a huge deal,” Seevers said. “I can only applaud those that are in charge of the seafood festival for making the call fairly early. … The impact is going to be big, though. We have hundreds of thousands of people who come here every year.”

Shane Moody, president and CEO of the Destin Area Chamber of Commerce, said his office takes calls year-round from people who plan their vacations around the event.

“The economic impact will be felt, I’m sure,” Moody said. “I just hate to see one of the unique Destin traditions affected this way. I know cancelling is the last thing they wanted to do, and I feel for them having to make that decision. I know with all the work that goes into this, with volunteers, staff, and the community as a whole, it has to be disappointing for them.”

Green said it was unlikely that the festival will be rescheduled. He said there’s almost a year of planning and coordination put into each festival.

“It takes us almost 10 months to get to where we are now,” he said. “At this time we have no means of rescheduling it with over 100 vendors.

“We’re not sure where to go from here. We’ve never had to deal with a hurricane showing up on our doorstep the weekend of the festival.”

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Jim Green, chairman of the festival this year, said planners waited until the last forecast was issued Thursday morning to cancel this weekend’s festival.

“Rain does not scare us. If it was just a rain storm we’d press on, but this is tropical conditions,” Green said. “We can’t subject our vendors, patrons and property owners to that. It’s something we have to take into consideration.

“This decision has made me physically sick.”

Green said festival organizers spent Thursday morning calling the 100 vendors scheduled to attend the event and have posted cancellation notices on the festival’s website, Facebook page and on Twitter.

“This is the first time we’ve encountered weather like this,” Green said. “From my recollection, it’s the first time in the festival’s history. This has consumed our volunteers’ lives for the last 10 months.”

Destin Mayor Sam Seevers said the economic impact of the cancellation is great.

“This is a huge deal,” Seevers said. “I can only applaud those that are in charge of the seafood festival for making the call fairly early. … The impact is going to be big, though. We have hundreds of thousands of people who come here every year.”

Shane Moody, president and CEO of the Destin Area Chamber of Commerce, said his office takes calls year-round from people who plan their vacations around the event.

“The economic impact will be felt, I’m sure,” Moody said. “I just hate to see one of the unique Destin traditions affected this way. I know cancelling is the last thing they wanted to do, and I feel for them having to make that decision. I know with all the work that goes into this, with volunteers, staff, and the community as a whole, it has to be disappointing for them.”

Green said it was unlikely that the festival will be rescheduled. He said there’s almost a year of planning and coordination put into each festival.

“It takes us almost 10 months to get to where we are now,” he said. “At this time we have no means of rescheduling it with over 100 vendors.

“We’re not sure where to go from here. We’ve never had to deal with a hurricane showing up on our doorstep the weekend of the festival.”